Scuttled at Toulon on 27
November 1942; salved by the Italians in 1943. Became the FR37
in Italian service, then taken over by the Germans. Scuttled
as a blockship at Toulon on 24 April 1945

FOUDROYANT (ex-FLEURET)

(T 103)

F C de la Méditerranée,
La Seyne

28 July 1938

Scuttled at Toulon on 27
November 1942; salved by the Italians in 1943. Became the FR36
in Italian service, then was captured by the Germans. Scuttled
as a blockship at Toulon in August 1944

L'ADROIT (ex-EPÉE)

(T 101)

F C de la Méditerranée,
La Seyne

26 October 1938

Scuttled at Toulon on 27
November 1942; salved by the Italians in 1943. Became the FR33
in Italian service; taken by the German Navy, but returned to Italy
and broken up in May, 1944

CASQUE **

F C de la Méditerranée,
La Seyne

2 November 1938

Scuttled at Toulon on 27
November 1942; salved by the Italians in 1943. Bombed by
Allied aircraft while being repaired and sunk on 27 April 1944

LANSQUENET

(T 104)

F C de la Gironde,
Bordeaux

20 May 1939

Scuttled at Toulon on 27
November 1942; salved by the Italians in 1943. Became the FR34
in Italian service, then taken over by the German Navy as
TA34. Scuttled at Genoa on 24 April 1945; subsequently raised
and returned to France, but never repaired. Broken up in
September, 1958

MAMELUCK **

(T 105)

A C de la Loire, Nantes

12 August 1939

Scuttled at Toulon on 27
November 1942; salved by the Italians in 1943. Bombed by
Allied aircraft while being repaired on 6 August 1944.
Subsequently returned to France, but never repaired. Broken up
in 1958

SIROCCO (ex-LE CORSAIRE)
**

F C de la Méditerranée,
La Seyne

14 November 1939

Scuttled at Toulon on 27
November 1942; salved by the Italians in 1943. Became FR32 in
Italian service; taken over by the German Navy and expended as a
blockship at Genoa on 28 October 1944

BISON (ex-LE FLIBUSTIER)

F C de la Méditerranée,
La Seyne

14 December 1939

Only 75% complete when
scuttled at Toulon on 27 November 1942; salved by the Italians in
1943. Became FR35 in the Italian service; then was taken over
by the German Navy before being used as a blockship at Toulon.

L'INTRÉPIDE *

F C de la Méditerranée,
La Seyne

26 April 1941

Construction abandoned in
April, 1941. Broken up circa 1945.

LE TÉMÉRAIRE * **

F C de la Méditerranée,
La Seyne

7 November 1941

Construction abandoned in
November, 1941. Broken up circa 1945.

L'AVENTURIER *

F C de la Gironde,
Bordeaux

20 April 1947

Launched to clear the
stocks, and used as a mooring pontoon at Bordeaux; broken up in May,
1960

L'OPINIÁTRE *

F C de la Gironde,
Bordeaux

n/a

Construction abandoned in
July, 1943. Broken up circa 1945.

1
Five of the class were painted with tactical numbers as noted in parentheses,
which they wore through at least 1941.

Notes: Although
the LE HARDI class was authorized in 1932, the design was not finalized
until 1934, and LE HARDI was not laid down until 1936. The DUNKERQUE
class battlecruisers required an accompanying destroyer to maintain 34-35
knots at full load, which this class easily achieved. On trials, LE
HARDI made 38.69 knots for eight hours, and 39.09 knots for an hour.
They were to have a much reduced silhouette in order to make them less
easy to identify and to target. The bow was to be reinforced, and
habitability was to be improved. The 5.1" gun was the same as
mounted in the DUNKERQUE, but in twin mounts. They had an adequate
rate of fire (up to 15 rounds per minute), but with a maximum elevation of
30°, they had no AA capability. They were also regarded as too
complex and unreliable, and were not well liked by their crews; and due to
malfunctions and breakdowns, the rate of fire rarely met design
standards. Anti-aircraft and anti-submarine capabilities were almost
non-existent, with only eight 220 lb. depth charges carried (although each
ship did carry one Ginocchio towed AS torpedo). During 1941, the
units in commission had two 25mm (2x1), four more 13.2mm (2x2) and five
8mm AA guns added. Four were renamed in April, 1941 to commemorate
ships lost in 1940 (as noted in the table above); LANSQUENET was to have
been renamed CYCLONE at this time, but this was not carried out.

Due to France's untimely
demise, the wartime service of the LE HARDI class was brief. Only LE
HARDI had run her full trials; FLEURET and EPÉE had completed hull and
machinery trials and were fitting out at Toulon and Lorient,
respectively. The other five had been launched, but were in varying
degrees of completion. The Marine Nationale was particularly anxious
that these modern destroyers did not fall into German hands, and managed
to move them to French bases in North Africa to prevent their
capture. Of particular note is LANSQUENET; on 17 June 1940, she was
still in drydock at Bordeaux. Her propulsion machinery had just been
assembled, and the hull had only received its undercoat of red lead
paint. The ship was hastily refloated and the twin 5.1" mounts
were embarked. She was then towed to Pauillac to take on fuel.
Although her boilers had never been tested, they were successfully lit;
and in the early morning hours on 23 June 1940, LANSQUENET sailed under
her own power from the Gironde Estuary, under fire from units of the
German Army. She arrived at Casablanca on 27 June.

The last four ships in the
class were to have been completed to an improved design, with the
5.1" guns in improved, dual-purpose mounts, eight 13.2mm AA guns,
only six TT, and no AS equipment. However, L'OPINIÁTRE was fitted
with the original mounts. The construction of these four was
abandoned during the war before they were ever completed (L'OPINIÁTRE was
never launched), and they were broken up circa 1945.